''safe'' Schools

April 9, 1985

PROGRAM WORKING. Lawmakers and school officials want to expand Florida's ''safe'' school program, saying the 5-year-old project has been so effective in selected high-crime districts that it should be applied statewide. Most school districts bear the entire burden for their safety programs, but the state has been allocating several million dollars on a year- to-year basis since 1981 for upgraded security in high-crime districts.

Rep. Art Simon, D-Miami, has filed the Safe School Act (HB 122), which would establish a permanent trust fund and a formula based on county crime statistics to distribute the money. The House Education K-12 Committee last week passed the bill, and an identical measure (SB 457) is awaiting action in the Senate.

Last year $10 million was set aside for the Safe School General Revenue Fund, with the Dade, Broward and Hillsborough school districts receiving $5.7 million of the total. The five other districts in the program -- Duval, Pinellas, Palm Beach, Orange and Polk -- all received more than $500,000.

Based on 1983 crime statistics, six additional districts -- Brevard, Escambia, Volusia, Monroe, Alachua and St. Lucie -- would become eligible for the program under Simon's bill.